While cleaning a griddle at the Las Palmas restaurant in Calexico, California, last week, a chef looked down to see what appeared to be an image of the Virgin Mary on the metal. The next day the Rev. Gerardo Fernandez of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church confirmed that the image was indeed a likeness of the Virgin. The griddle has been taken out of the kitchen and put on display in a storage room which the restaurant’s manager says will be renovated so people can continue to check out the griddle for free. So far more than 100 people have dropped by to view the ghostly griddle, including Renegado and Mr. Tempest, two Mexican wrestlers who were in town for an appearance at the local swap meet.

While walking near Johnny Mercer’s Pier in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, a man looked down and saw an oyster shell he thought looked like the Virgin Mary. Some say it looks more like Jesus. Others think it’s an angel. The guy who found it thinks he has a bonanza so he put it on eBay where as of this writing, the high bid is only $36. Plus $5 shipping, of course.

Christopher Moreau was having a drink in his garden in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough when he spotted the likeness of the Virgin Mary on a tree, standing in her traditional open-armed pose. “It raises the hair on your neck, it gives you chills,” he said. His neighbor, and owner of the tree, Eulalee Hamilton says it’s just scarring from a limb that was lopped off a year ago. Moreau has invited people to come by and see it. Hamilton says, “Chris can have all the people he wants on his back deck but I don’t really want people trampling on my garden.”

A DJ on Eugene, Oregon’s rock radio station KFLY is selling a pretzel on eBay in the shape of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. Tanner Haney says he found the twisted icon in a bag of Rold Gold pretzels a little over two years ago. The pretzel is in mint condition and comes with the original packaging stamped with the “Sell by” date. As of today, there have been 63 bids with the current high offer being $7,600.

A Houston area family sat down to breakfast when they noticed that one of the pancakes Mom made had the image of the Virgin Mary on it. They say it’s a good omen and plan to hold onto the fantastic flapjack.

Shunattee Lewis of Sacramento, CA, spent Thanksgiving in Denver at her mother’s funeral. When she got home, for some reason she pulled out a muffin pan, even though she had no plans to make muffins. Or even cupcakes. When she looked into one of the muffin slots, she saw what looked like an image of the Virgin Mary. Her husband thought it looked like the Mona Lisa. Her 8-year-old son thought that whatever it was, it had a happy face. Shunattee is showing the pan by appointment. The phone number is here.